At last! This is an excellent CD for learning how to jam with a Celtic group. When one has only played Classical scores, there can be a sense of loss for creative improvisation. I recommend using this Cd in conjunction with Renata's method books THE FIDDLING CELLIST and especially CELTIC GROOVES FOR TWO CELLOS. She has brought the techniques of Darol Anger, Natalie Hass, and Rushad Eggleston together. It is wonderful to hear the cello in comfortable company of a most accomplished guitar accompaniment. Whether you say "tahters" or you say "teighters" this CD is served up with a great big THANKS!!
                            Read more...
                        

                            
This cd is a very listenable adaption of fiddle music to cello. This switch in instruments (along with Ms. Bratt's technical skills) produces tunes that seem emotionally deeper and more sonorous. Wonderful stuff.
                            Read more...
                        

                            
Not long ago, during a conversation we were having abouut reggae, a drummer friend remarked to me that he loved the fact that his son, also a drummer, didn't play reggae “with an accent,” whereas he himself did. What he meant by this was, because he came to the genre much later in life—just as someone who learns a foreign language as an adult usually can't shake the accent of their native tongue—that his son's reggae chops were more authentic than his.

Like my friend's son, Renata Bratt doesn't play with an accent. Whether rendering a tearful Scottish air, sawing an Irish jig, or hoe-downing traditional American fare, she always sounds as if she was born playing this music. Considering that there is not much of a tradition playing tunes like this on the cello, this is no small achievement.

Bratt is ably accompanied by fellow cellists Rushad Eggleston, Kristina Forester & Natalie Haas, as well as guitarist Jim Lewin. In various combinations, they provide fertile ground for Bratt's delicious potatoes, at certain points taking over the main lines with seamless aplomb.

All of the tracks are excellent, however there are a few standouts for me. Bratt's rendition of Star of the County Down carries a great breadth of emotional intensity, like meeting the person with whom you want to spend the rest of your life (yay!)—but they're with someone else (waa!). The happier Cripple Creek, as served up by Bratt, Egglestons and Lewin is so convincing, you could easily forget that it hasn't always been played on the cello.

No potato famine here, it's all feast. Anyway you slice 'em, these humongous spuds are fiddlin’-ly, cellistically, finger lickin’-ly delicious. Dig!

Corbin Keep, Cello City Ink—Newsletter of the New Directions Cello Assoc. v. 14, No. 1 Spring/Summer 2007
                            Read more...
                        

                            
bratt has hit on something here. having eggleston and haas on the album was a brilliant choice. very warm and rich sound.
                            Read more...